


Time Off

by orphan_account



Category: The Martian (2015)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-16 04:22:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5813935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The crew gets a break from training. Mark and his parents are invited to dinner with Chris' family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Off

The man who opened the door and said, “You must be the Watneys,” looked exactly like Chris Beck. His hair was shorter, he was a bit more slender, but he had the same smile and the same eyes and the same easy, natural grace.

The _real_ Chris appeared behind him, and, seeing the two side by side, it took Mark a second longer than it should’ve to realize, _Twins!_

Chris bounded across the threshold, past Mark, and threw his arms around Mark’s mother.

“Laurie, it’s so good to see you!”

“Oh, Chris! Same to you, hon!” She leant back a bit and looked him up and down. “Did you get even _more_ handsome?”

Chris’ high-pitched, “Oh, stop!” was enough to make Mark roll his eyes at the pair.

“Good to see you, Dr. Beck,” Mark’s father said, coupled with one of his rare smiles.

Chris shook him warmly by the hand. “David, good to see you again. You guys didn’t have to bring anything! Let me help you with that.” He took the tupperware container Mark’s dad was holding and started walking back into the house. “How’s your father?”

“About as well as we’d expected, but thank you.”

“If you ever need anyone to check in on him, I know my mom or my sister would be more than happy to-”

“That’s not at all necessary, but thank you, Chris. I appreciate it.”

Chris stopped and stood next to Not-Chris, and, _Goddamn_ , Mark mused, _s’gonna take some getting used to_.

“This is my brother Josh. Josh, this is Mark, David, and Laurie Watney.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mark said.

“Older or younger?” his mother asked.

Josh and Chris smiled the same smile. “Older,” Josh said.

“3 minutes. Barely!”

“Pleasure to meet you, young man,” Mark’s father - ever the gentleman - said as he shook Josh’s hand.

“Same to you, sir. Come on in.”

The house was spacious and warm and alive with voices. Mark set down the two tupperware containers he was carrying to take off his shoes and hang up his coat.

“You can drop those off in the kitchen.” Chris said. “Follow me.”

Chris took one of the containers from his hands and led the way down a long, wood-paneled hall to a clean, white kitchen. He set the tupperware down on a counter, poked his head around the corner, and then wound his arms tight around Mark’s neck and kissed him hard on the lips.

“I’m glad you could come.”

“Oh, _please_.” Mark wrapped his free arm around Chris’ waist and pulled him close, pressing their bodies together. “My parents are besotted with you. You’re like the child they’ve always wanted.

“In all fairness, you set the bar pretty low.”

“You’re not wrong.”

Chris carded his fingers through Mark’s hair, looking uneasy for a moment. “They know not to say anything about you and me, right?”

Mark nodded. “Yeah, I told them.”

“I hate to ask it of you guys, but I don't think my family could handle me coming out right now on top of going to Mars.”

“Don't worry. They understand.”

“Okay.” He smoothed his hands down the front of Mark’s sweater. “I like this color on you.”

“Thanks, boo.”

“Oh, God, do _not_ call me that,” he chuckled.

Mark tilted his head and kissed Chris the way he’d wanted to since he appeared at the front door: softly, sweetly, a little bit of tongue. He moved his hand from Chris’ waist down to his firm backside, pressing his hips forward, and was rewarded with a soft groan and a small tug on his hair.

“You boys in the kitchen?!” Chris’ mom bellowed from down the hall.

They separated just in time for Marjorie Beck to round the corner, open her arms wide, and holler, “Is this THE Mark Watney, botanist extraordinaire?!”

“No, Ma, it's Matt Damon.”

“Shut it, you. And _you_ ,” She turned back to Mark. “Don't be a stranger, we’re all huggers in this house!”

“You have a lovely home, Mrs. Beck,” Mark said, surprised at all the strength in the tiny woman as she squeezed him in her arms.

“Call me Marjorie, honey. Or Marj, or Margie. I’m not picky.”

“They brought food, Ma,” Chris said, lifting the lid on one of the tupperware boxes.

“You didn’t have to do that!” she exclaimed, slapping Mark hard on the chest and then poking at him a bit. “Oh, my, that’s all _muscle_. I keep telling this one he needs to take better care of himself; maybe he’ll listen to you.”

“I take care of myself,” Chris protested.

“Tell that to all the Twinkie wrappers by your bed. When you boys are ready, come on out and meet the rest of the clan.” She winked at Mark and gave his arm a squeeze before she left. “Pleasure to meet you, sweetheart.”

When they were alone again, Mark smiled wide and pointed at the direction she’d taken off in. “Your mother is my favorite person in the world.”

“You didn’t have to live with her for 18 years.”

“I sure would like to.”

“You say that _now_. The night’s still young.”

“Speaking of...” Mark came close to him again, not touching, just standing directly in front of him with his face close to Chris’. “If I don’t get to blow you at some point in the evening, this whole trip to Milwaukee will have been a wasted opportunity.”

“After dinner,” Chris said. “We can go for a drive.”

“And make out in a parking lot?”

“I was thinking you fuck me in the backseat. Doesn’t have to be a parking lot.”

“Drive through, maybe?”

“You’re funny.” Chris reached out and groped Mark through the front of his pants. He licked his lips before he kissed Mark again, biting Mark’s lower lip before pulling away.

“You’re the worst,” Mark said, more breathless than he wanted to be.

“I know. Come meet the rest of the ‘clan.’”

They walked down the hall and into the living room, where Chris’ mother was sitting on one of the couches with Mark’s mom and Chris’ younger sister, Devin. Mark’s father was standing with Josh, George Beck - Chris’ father - and Devin’s husband, Jason. There were 2 young girls sprawled out on the floor - Devin and Jason’s daughters, Kendall and Winnie. Josh's fiancée, Hannah, was seated beside them.

Introductions were made, small talk was had, and then Marjorie ushered everyone into the dining room and enlisted her children’s help with bringing out the food: 2 massive turkeys with about a dozen different sides and several bottles of wine.

The food was delicious, as was Chris’ presence beside him. They had started dating a few weeks into their training at NASA and Mark was hopelessly smitten. When they were given some time off and his parents asked him to accompany them to Milwaukee - where he knew Chris was staying to spend the break with his family - Chris asked if they would enjoy dinner with the Becks, and Mark’s parents practically leapt out of their seats at the prospect of spending time with him again.

Laurie and David had met him when they road tripped down to Houston to visit their son at NASA. The four of them had all gone out to dinner together and they were wrapped around Chris’ finger almost instantly - Laurie in particular threatening Mark with bodily harm if he did anything to break Chris’ heart.

Mark was relieved when they had agreed to respect Chris’ wishes and not mention that they were dating. Now, the first to clean his plate, he snuck a glance at Chris’ strong, handsome profile and resisted the urge to reach out and touch him.

“Eat up, Mark!” Marjorie said. “You're gonna wish for a meal like this when you're chowing down on those prepackaged space foods.”

“I don't doubt it, ma’am,” Mark said with a smile, happily loading his plate with seconds.

“ _Marjorie_ , sweetheart. I insist.”

Mark’s mother reached over and squeezed Marjorie’s arm. “Can you believe our boys are going to Mars?”

“Isn't it incredible?” Chris’ father said. “First manned mission. They're gonna be in the history books.”

“Are you nervous?” Josh asked.

Chris shrugged. “A little bit. Excited, mostly.”

“Very excited,” Mark agreed.

“You're gonna be stuck with each other.” Devin said.

Chris smiled, touching his knee to Mark’s under the table. “He's all right.”

“University of Chicago, eh, Mark?” George said.

“Yes, sir.”

“I’m a few classes behind you.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Astrophysics, summa cum laude. You from Illinois, originally?”

“Oak Park.”

“Nice, nice. And you’re here in Wisconsin to visit family?”

“David’s sister lives here,” Laurie said. “And his father’s here, too.”

The rest of the meal passed fairly uneventfully: Marjorie, the obvious matriarch, goaded Josh and Hannah into telling their engagement story; one of the girls threw a fit and had to be taken upstairs for a time out; David Watney and George Beck bonded over the Bears; Chris kept his knee pressed against Mark’s, brushed his socked toes over Mark’s foot.

Mark wished they didn’t have to pretend they weren’t dating. He wanted to put his arm around Chris. He wanted to tell Marjorie about their disaster of a first date because he thought she would find it funny. But if Chris wasn’t ready to come out, he wouldn’t push him. He settled for dropping his napkin on the floor as an excuse to discreetly bite at Chris’ thigh through his jeans. As much as he was enjoying all the great company, he couldn’t wait to be alone with Chris.

He helped clear the table and load the dishwasher, listening intently to Josh’s story about Chris peeing his pants on their first day of middle school. Afterwards, Devin and Jason went home to put the girls to sleep, Josh and Hannah took off soon after, and then it was just Mark, Chris, and their parents all sitting in the living room.

“I’m gonna take Mark out for a drink,” Chris announced around 11:00. He got on his feet and gestured for Mark to do the same. “Don’t wait up, Mom.”

“You’d better be back here before 1:00,” Marjorie said sternly. “I don’t want you boys out all night. And call a taxi if you’re having more than one drink. And make sure Mark gets back to his hotel.”

“Will do.” Chris took Laurie’s hand as he spoke to Mark’s parents. “It was so great to see you both again.”

“You’d better _call_ me, young man, before you get on that spaceship,” Laurie said.

“I promise.”

Mark started to follow Chris to the front door and said to his parents, “Text me when you guys get back to the hotel.”

“Okay,” David said. “Have a good night.”

Chris had his shoes and coat on in _seconds_ and stared impatiently at Mark as he sat down on the hallway bench to lace up his boots. When they got outside and into Chris’ car, he leaned over at once and sloppily kissed Mark on the mouth.

“Can’t wait... to get you out of... that sweater.”

“I thought you liked this color on me.”

“I’ll like it better off of you.”

Mark kept his hand on Chris’ leg as they drove out of the cul-de-sac and through the neighborhood. After only a few minutes, Chris pulled into an empty parking lot behind a strip mall, unbuckling his seatbelt to crawl almost on top of Mark.

“Backseat,” Mark panted between increasingly wetter, deeper kisses.

When they got out of the car, Chris took off his coat and shoved it down by the pedals, taking a moment to pull the front seat forward and give them more space. Mark did the same on the passenger’s side, and then they were in each other’s arms, shifting around to get comfortable and finally settling with Chris half-laying across the backseat and Mark stretched out on top of him.

“Sweater. Off.” Chris demanded, pushing his hands up underneath the garment.

“Hold on, damn.”

Mark sat up a bit and pulled it off, with his shirt, over his head. Chris tugged off his own sweater, getting caught in his long-sleeved shirt and scowling at Mark when the other man laughed at him. Mark made up to him by sucking Chris’ nipple into his mouth, biting a bit and then moving to the other one.

“Mark,” Chris sighed, arching up into him. “How are we gonna live together for the next 2 years? What if we start to hate each other?”

“As long as we’re still having sex.”

He let out a soft laugh. “Is that all I’m good for?”

“'Flight surgeon' is code for 'boy toy,' yeah?”

“Oh, so I’m your ‘boy toy?’”

“I prefer 'boyfriend,' if that’s all right with you.” He looked up at Chris and was relieved to see the other man smile and nod. They hadn’t officially put a label on their relationship, but they’d been seeing each other for months now and Mark really liked the way _boyfriend_ sounded.

He kissed Chris again, licking into his mouth, and reached down to unbutton Chris’ jeans and get his hand inside of them.

“Wait,” Chris said. He curled his fingers around Mark’s wrist and brought his hand to his mouth, looking him in the eye as he licked Mark’s palm. “Go ahead.”

Mark stroked him slow and hard with a slight twist on the upstroke, loving the way Chris clutched at his shoulders, putting his nails in Mark’s skin, and pumped his hips up into it.

“You are unbelievably sexy,” Mark said against Chris’ neck.

“You need to hurry up and fuck me, Watney,” Chris panted. “It’s been 2 fucking weeks.”

“You sound like Marjorie.”

“ _Please_ don’t talk about my mom while you’re jerking me off.”

He kissed Chris again, slow and filthy, as he opened his own pants and took the both of them in hand.

“Mark, slow down, I’m gonna come.”

Mark took his hand away and sat back, manhandling Chris a bit as he tugged off Chris’ jeans and boxers.

“This car was not designed for 2 grown, horny men," he complained. He flipped Chris onto his stomach - the other man having to straddle the seat with one hand and one foot planted on the car floor - and then lowered his head and licked at Chris’ opening.

“Fuck, Mark!”

“This okay?”

“Yeah, _fuck_ , don’t stop.”

“You taste amazing,” he said, reveling in the all the noises Chris made as he began to eat him out. Aroused beyond belief and unable to hold off for another second, he sat back and lined himself up, pushing into Chris’ wet, relaxed hole with a deep groan. “ _God_ , babe.”

His thrusts were shallow at first, letting Chris’ body get accustomed to the movement before nearly pulling all the way out and then fucking into him hard and deep. He kept up a careful, steady pace, and then pulled out and turned Chris onto his back.

“Mark, what-”

“Just wanna look at you. Hold on.”

He sat down with his feet on the floor and manhandled Chris again until he had him straddling his lap. Chris reached down and lined Mark up himself, sinking all the way down onto him and riding Mark until they were both flushed and panting. Mark grabbed him by the hips and held him still, snapping up into him at a rapid pace and then coming at the same time as Chris.

He held the other man as Chris sagged against him. “You know I’m crazy about you, right?”

“Of course you are. I’m a catch,” Chris replied, and then said, softer, “Kiss me.”

Mark took Chris’ face in his hands and pressed several kisses to those plush, pouty lips. He felt a feeling very much like love rise up in his throat and forced it down, not quite ready for that yet, not wanting to do or say anything that might jinx what they had going on.

Dr. Chris Beck was, indeed, a catch, and Mark was equal parts nervous and thrilled at the prospect of being trapped with him on a spaceship. It wasn’t how he’d typically done relationships - date the person for a less than a year and then live with them in a floating metal container - but Chris wasn’t a typical man, and Mark couldn’t wait to see what the future had in store for them.


End file.
